Design Star

Generally, I take time off from television in the summer. However, Sundays are now TV nights for me. And I mean that in the sense of, "Nobody bug me while I'm watching this show or I will go ballistic!"

I'm completely addicted to HGTV's Design Star. Anyone else been watching it? (If not, you can jump in anytime. It's not a show where you have to struggle to figure out what's happening.) It's totally feeding my television addiction now that my laugh-out-loud shows (Ugly Betty, Boston Legal, Dirty Sexy Money and 30 Rock) are on summer hiatus.

Here's the gist: A bunch of aspiring interior designers are given projects, a budget, and a deadline. (Writers: try to imagine what you'd do if given 30 hours, a laptop, and a writing parameter such as, "Give us a story about green." That's essentially the task facing the competitors on Design Star.) They come up with some phenomenal work. For anyone in the creative arts, or anyone who's simply interested in making their home/apartment/dorm room fantastic on a tight budget, it's inspiring.

The judges--fashion designer Cynthia Rowley, interior designer Vern Yip, and InStyle Magazine editor Martha McCully--go over the pros and cons of each person's work, and each week one designer is eliminated. The last person standing gets a phenomenal prize: a spread in InStyle Magazine AND their own show on HGTV. How cool is that?! The season one winner was David Bromstad (now host of HGTV's Color Splash.) Season Two's winner was Kim Myles (now host of Myles of Style.) Both were at or near the top of my "faves" lists those seasons. I don't have a fave contestant on season three...yet. But I do hope Tracee's out soon. (Yep, there's someone I DON'T want to win, mostly because I know I wouldn't watch her if she had a show on HGTV. How sad is that?)

Tune in tonight on HGTV. If you have even a tiny bit of interest in design, you'll love this show.